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The creators of Warcraft turn their hand to online shooters, in what is easily one of the best new games of the year.

Up until a few years ago the online shooter seemed amongst the most conservative and uninventive genre in gaming. And yet this year none of the major sequels are set during the modern era and the likes of Battlefield, Call Of Duty, and Titanfall seem to be actively trying to make themselves as different as possible from each other. With last year’s Splatoon it was proven that shooters could be both family friendly and highly original. And while Overwatch isn’t quite as innovative as that, it has taken all the top new trends in the genre to create one of the best new games of the generation.

That approach to tackling a new genre is exactly what you’d expect from developer Blizzard, and the secret behind the success of games such as Warcraft and Diablo. It’s not that Overwatch is lacking in unique features, but its goal is clearly not to reinvent the wheel but instead make it the best-designed and most accessible one you’ve ever seen.

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Blizzard has clearly wrestled with exactly how to pitch the game though, and until relatively recently they were still unsure whether this was going to be a normal full price release or a free-to-play game. And indeed Overwatch’s most significant flaw is that it does feel very much like the latter, even though it’s £55. There’s no story campaign, relatively few multiplayer modes, and (entirely cosmetic) microtransactions.

But we’ll come back to that later and for now concentrate on the positives, which are pretty much everything else. In typical Blizzard fashion there’s a complex backstory for all of Overwatch’s 21 different characters, but very little of it is explained through playing the game. As in many other ways, Overwatch takes the same approach as a fighting game such as Street Fighter, with the crazy backstories left for you to seek out if you’re interested. And if you’re not then just pick someone because they look cool and give them a go.

Overwatch’s characters are organised into four broad classes: offense, defence, support, and tank. Since all matches are played as a team it’s important to have a good variety of each, but you can change mid-game so that’s not a problem. As has been obvious since the beta the offense type characters who look and play like a standard first person shooter are the most popular first choices, such as the suitably generic-sounding Solider: 76, the shotgun-wielding Reaper, and cybernetic cowboy McCree.

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But every character has their own unique abilities – three or four special powers that can be used on a short cooldown timer, plus one special ability that you have to build up a meter for by getting in successful hits on enemies. Solider: 76 is one of the only characters that can run, for example, while Widowmaker has a sniper rifle in a game where there are generally no iron sights.

Bastion the robot is a popular early choice for players looking to experiment, as he can transform into a gun turret. And after that you can think about trying the freeze gun-wielding Mei, a support type like Mercy who can heal or increase the damage of allies, or Winston the giant gun-toting space gorilla.

Overwatch (PS4) – Reinhardt is a melee monster

There’s no point us going through every character as there’s already seemingly dozens of wikis, not to mention DeviantArt, full of fans excitedly picking over every detail and character trait. The point is that as incredibly diverse as the range of characters is the game is still somehow very well balanced. No matter what it may seem like at the time all have enough disadvantages – whether it be in terms of armour, manoeuvrability, or weapons – to ensure that it’s only teamwork which is the guarantee to success.

Although Blizzard has promised it for the future, there is no Deathmatch in Overwatch. Instead you work in a team of six to defend areas, capture control points, and escort vehicles. The four play modes are nowhere near as inventive as the characters, and while you could argue that that is also comparable to a fighting game – where the basics are always essentially the same – it is our only other disappointment with the game.

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There are MVP awards and plenty of stats when you finish a game, but no kill/death ratios to obsess over. Instead you’re encouraged to vote for who you think did the best, with a cheery thank you as a reward for your praise. What’s going to happen when the cheats and malcontents get their teeth into the game we don’t know, but at the moment the camaraderie and sense of community is, especially for a shooter, uniquely friendly and welcoming.

In terms of level design it’s exemplary, with 12 highly varied maps that are filled with shortcuts and secret alcoves, as well as obstacles and details that only some characters can take advantage of. The art design is wonderful as well, bright and imaginative in a way that’s highly reminiscent of late era arcade titles. As if this was a sequel to some long lost Sega or Capcom game on the Dreamcast.

Overwatch (PS4) – Reaper is a popular newbie choice

In the future Blizzard has promised to release new maps and characters for free, and although you can pay for the cosmetic microtransactions you can also earn them normally by playing. But no matter how much you trust Blizzard to keep its promises the truth is Overwatch is lacking in content. It needs more, and more imaginative, game modes, and although you could argue it’s not essential the lack of any meaningful single-player experience will put off many.

This makes scoring the game very difficult, and we can’t help but think that it also makes Street Fighter V’s pariah status seem even more unfair. The two games are very similar in many ways, despite the different genres, and Overwatch seems to be getting a pass from fans simply because it’s new and so you can’t compare its lack of features with a previous entry.

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But no matter how you feel about the ongoing trend of feature lite game launches Overwatch is a fantastic game and one of the best multiplayer shooters we’ve ever played. By focusing on character, variety, and teamwork it repositions the whole genre to be more inclusive and good-natured. Shooting people in the face has never been more fun.

Overwatch

In Short: The Street Fighter of online shooters is an inspired new take on familiar ideas, that proves personality really does go a long way.

Pros: Fantastically diverse range of characters to suit any style of play. Great art design, excellent maps, and deep but accessible gameplay.

Cons: There’s too little content at launch, with no story campaign and only four play modes.